right now msnbc, the speaker of the house says we are going quote nowhere. another top republican in the senate says we're going over the cliff. so, what will all of this mean for you and me? i would like to see his top priority be the meef. >> the former president, who hung his legacy on the middle east peace talks talks about what he hopes president obama will do and why he thinks his

family deserves credit for the president's second term. plus which pro tension 2016 presidential candidate says they could see themselves as a superhero. "power rangers" style. good afternoon, i'm craig melvin. you're watching msnbc. it's 29 days until the nation could fall off the fiscal cliff are the two sides closer, to avoid the massive tax increases and budget cuts? not according to house speaker john boehner. >> right now i would say we're nowhere. period. we're nowhere. >> the only thing standing in the way of that would be a refusal by republicans to accept the rates that are going to have to go up on wealthiest americans. i don't really see them doing that. >> nbc news white house correspondent, mike viquiera joining me now. treasury secretary timothy geithner, president obama's point man in these fiscal cliff

negotiations, ran the gauntlet this morning. he appeared on all five sunday talk shows, including "meet the press" of course, what else did he say? >> craig, you know if we're in the posturing stage and a lot of people think we're still in the posturing stage with, 29 or 30 days to go. we better hope that they're just posturing, because after the period of optimism, the post-election talk of compromise, you remember john boehner came out the day after the election, the president spoke about compromise as well. they're as far apart as they ever have been and the clock is ticking. what timothy geithner said is as follows, nothing is going to get done unless republicans agree to raise rates on the wealthiest 2% of americans we know the figure by now. those couples filing jointly making more than $250,000. the rates must rise, not a matter of closing loopholes or deductions or simplifying the tax code this is the way it has to be to meet their revenue goals. contrary to what mitch mcconnell and john boehner said since he

was up on the hill with timothy geithner. mr. mcconnell laughed at the geithner proposal. he said it was a serious proposal. he might be the only one outside of this precinct who believes that and geithner insists if the gop wants entitlement reform, reform to social security and medicare and medicaid and many of those things were on the table in that failed grand bargaining of a year and a half ago, geithner, the president, all administration officials insist, it's the republicans who have going to have to show a little ankle and insist on what they want. make it clear what they want in terms of those reforms, if they want them to be on the table. the administration is not going to go first, they say they've already spelled out what they want in terms of raising taxesnd revenue. we don't apleer to be closer to a deal 29 days out. craig? >> republicans are going to have to show a little more ankle. i'll be using that. mike viquiera, from 1600 pennsylvania, thank you, good sir. so will a deal get done by the

january 1st deadline? here's what one prominent republican senator had to say this morning. >> i think we're going off the cliff. it's pretty clear to me they've made a political calculation. you can limit deductions to $40,000, $50,000 a person which takes care of the middle class, upper-income americans will lose about $800 billion in revenue. the president's plan when it comes to entitlement reform is quite frankly a joke. i don't think they're serious about finding a deal. >> joining me are our special panelist of journalists, anna marie cox and karen tumblty, a political reporter for the "washington post." good sunday afternoon to both of you. >> anna marie, let me start with you. for about two days after the election, everyone is holding hands, singing kumbaya. no one is singing any more. all of that optimism seems to have disappeared.

we're hearing more lawmakers saying publicly, we just heard from lindsay graham yesterday. i had a congressman from vermont on the show, he said the same thing that we could very well be jumping over this cliff. posturing or reality? >> well i think it's something of a reality. but this is case where the moniker of fiscal cliff i think is going to wind up hurting republicans. because it sounds so scary. even though there is not going to be any immediate fiery death, if things don't happen. and i think the president kind of looks better going into this, i think they know that they say in game of chicken, he who cares the least wins. and i think it's the white house who kind of just is going to let the republicans play this out. however they want. and there's also a chance that boehner will have more ability to make a deal after the new congress gets sworn in. this all might be kind of just like posturing. until boehner can sit down with his new congress. i'm not really sure, i am not particularly worried about the fiery crash. something will happen. i do think the white house will probably have the most cards to

play when it comes to that. >> karen, anna marie brought up speaker boehner. "meet the press" moderator david gregory said his take is that president obama issued the tough first offer to give the speaker some room, to object strenuously and fight for some concessions. do you agree with that assessment? >> oh, think we are so far away from the real negotiations at this point. you know, congressional negotiations, the way they work deals never get cut until you are right on top of the deadline. but, there is a bit of a dance going on here. i was talking to officials at the white house last week. in that the congressional republicans want to draw president obama into these negotiations. they want these to be about boehner and obama. last time it happened was the 2011 debt ceiling negotiations and that didn't really turn out so well.

>> why would that be their aim? >> they want to make this about the president and boehner. and they think they can get a better deal that way. the pro who white house strategy is to have this happen at the staff level and the president float above it and go out and make his case to the country. as he did later in 2011 on the extension of the payroll tax holiday. they really feel that the more they have, the president sort of down on boehner's level, the worse things are going to go. >> anna marie, i want to get your take on something that democratic senator claire mccaskill said on "meet the press," about the choice that republicans face. take a listen. >> they're going to get stuck with a raising of the rates of the top 2%. either in a very painful way. or in a way that we can all suffer a little bit. address all three legs of the stool. entitlements, cuts, and revenues, in a way that makes sense, and does make the very

wealthy go back to a tax rate, by the way, in the '90s, when we were raining jobs. >> anna marie, what's your take on that? >> i think she's right. and also historically, it's still not a very high tax rate but when you look at the history for the highest tax rates for the top 2%. they've been as high as 90% in the great depression, so you really have to have perspective here. it's hard to see the republicans making this their sticking point. making this thing that that is the hill that they will die on, is not raising taxes on the top 2%. i think that karen is right, that the white house has everything to gain by keeping the president above this. and on the payroll tax thing, that worked. that employ worked and i think that they're planning on having this work out again. the president is the one making the case to people that his staff is dealing with boehnerth and i think that's the right psychological play and it's the right political negotiating play. >> anna marie cox and karen tumblety. stand by, we're going to talk about grover norquist.

by the way, karen, happy belated birthday. >> thank you. >> i hear you celebrated, i heard there was a wild party in d.c. last night. thanks for the invite. >> quick note here, don't know what you're doing with your sunday, but the president is off golfing and take a listen. take a look at the lineup. the partners on the course, u.s. trade representative, former mayor of dallas, ambassador ron kirk. democratic heavyweight, pro tension gubernatorial candidate. terry mcauliffe. and none other than william jefferson clinton playing. imagine the conversation out there on the links at andrews. up next, we'll talk to the former senate majority leader who recently served as u.s. special envoy for middle east peace. was the leading peace negotiator for that region, former senator george mitchell will join us live on the other side of the break. we'll spend some time with him.

and record rainfall up and down the west coast. a live report from one northern california town, where the river is literally rushing through it. money was the single most important factor in the election. >> a little bit later, former president jimmy carter said president obama's re-election win was his grandson's doing. we're dead serious. we'll tell you why, we're watching msnbc. the place for politics. the way it cleans. everything about the oral-b power brush is simply revolutionary. oral-b power brushes oscillate, rotate and even pulsate to gently loosen and break up that sticky plaque with more brush movements than manual brushes and even up to 50% more than leading sonic technology brushes for a superior clean. oral-b power brushes. go to oralb.com for the latest offers.

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[ cheers and applause ] yes to the state of palestine, the words spoken by palestinian authority, mahmoud abbas, upon his return to

cheering crowds in palestine. the united nations general assembly thursday voted to accept palestine as a nonmember observer state. president abbas sees the move as a key step toward palestinian independence. only nine countries opposed the vote, including the united states and israel. friday, date after the vote, israel announced construction plans for some 3,000 new homes in israeli settlements on the west bank and in east jerusalem as well. at today's israeli cabinet meeting, prime minister benjamin netanyahu said quote we will carry on building. i want to bring in former senate majority leader, george mitchell. senator mitchell, president clinton's special envoy to northern ireland and served as two years as president obama's special envoy to middle east peace. thank you for stopping by. israel's announcement of increased settlement construction, criticized kbi the white house as quote

counterproductive. france, great britain and the eu also criticized. >> the location as opposed to the number. the announcement to build on the area that is known as e-1, designated in that way. is highly significant. because no government of israel has previously announced major construction in that area. it's pretty much open land. and it represents the possible last link in blocking a geographically contiguous palestinian state. so it's highly significant and will be seen that way in the region. >> are the settlements, are they the biggest impediment to a long-term solution? >> no i don't think they are the single-biggest impediment, i

think they are one of the impediments, i think it's a mistake to assign rankings to the problems in the middle east. jerusalem is highly important, very emotional on both sides. i should emphasize that while i believe that the announcement of the settlement construction on e-1 is counterproductive and moves away from a resolution, so is the palestinian action going to the you united nations. what you have here are a series of actions and reactions, going back a long time. that move the parties further away from the negotiation that both sides agree is necessary if there is to be a palestinian state in practical effect on the ground. >> is this country's commitment to israel. is it the commitment today, both in word and deed, is it the same as it was a decade ago? or are we witnessing a paradigm shift of sorts? >> no, i don't think we're witnessing a paradigm shift.

the u.s. commitment to israel's security, its right to exist in peace alongside a palestinian state is rock-solid. i don't think is likely to be diminished or reduced in any way. i think there is a profound misapprehension in the region, that views the american commitment as an impediment to the establishment of a palestinian state. >> how so? >> they think that the united states is onesided on it. can't be a neutral arbiter, several in the region. but the reality is that we favor both a palestinian state and israeli security. and in january of 2009, president george w. bush went to jerusalem and made a statement that summarized our policy and made the point valid which other presidents had made, including president obama, is that the israelis have a very successful state. but they don't have security for their people. they're entitled to it.

the palestinians don't have a state and they want one. the only way each can get what it wants, is if the other also gets what it wants. in other words, they should be mutually vested in each other's success, in those objectives. >> president obama sent you to the middle east in 2009 following a similar armed conflict between israel and hamas. here we are, three careers later, at the end of another conflict between israel and hamas. what if anything in that region has changed since your visit in 20091. >> well the possibility of a two-state solution is more difficult now than it was then. it was very difficult then. the israelis and the palestinian authority. and it's ironic because both israel and the palestinian authority are opposed to hamas. they have that in common. hamas is a competitor. >> that's about the only thing they seem to have in common.

>> but yet they're both taking steps that have the effect of bolstering hamas. that improve hamas' standing in the region and i don't think that's the way they're going to find a peaceful resolution here. >> the how would characterize this administration's handling of the statehood issue? >> well i agree with the president's position, the question now is, what happens after it occurs? and of course what we've seen is that the israelis have responded with an action of their own. that we also disagree with. that's moving them further apart. but in the end, the united states wants a peaceful resolution. but it cannot impose it and it must be the parties themselves who want it bad enough to negotiate and make reasonable and principled compromise to get there. i believe they can do it. and i think ultimately they will, because it's in their self-interest. >> before i let you go, let's turn to domestic politics. let's talk about the fiscal cliff. you've been part of many of a political standoff.

senate majority leader from '89 to 1995. how wide is the chasm between what we are seeing and hearing on cable news outfits and in newspapers, how wide is the gap between that and what is actually transpiring behind closed doors? >> it's pretty wide. look both sides are trying to accomplish two things at the same time. and they mutually contradictory. one is they want to convey to the broad american public that they're reasonable, they're willing to compromise, they're not obstructionist. at the same time, they want to convey to their partisans we're not going to cave in. and so you get one message in the morning, another in the afternoon and kind of a mixture of them in the evening. >> how do you think it plays out? >> i think the president is in a very strong position. the election was pretty clear and decisive result. the american people now regard by significant numbers, the republicans as obstructionists. i think they have a very important objective, the republicans do, that is to shed

this label of obstructionist. i think there's also a huge incentive for the president as well. he's now in his second term. and history and the american people aren't going to judge him by saying, well, they caused it to fail. they want results, they want production, and i think the republicans have to produce, they both is an interest in doing it. >> former senate majority leader, george mitchell. thank you so much for swinging by. and now that i know you live fairly close by, we'll invite you every other week, perhaps. next time we'll talk baseball. >> how about thanks a lot. >> coming up, jimmy carter never shy to criticize the current players in the middle east peace effort. >> they netanyahu policy needs to change. because he's the first prime minister in the history of the israel that has shifted to a one-state instead of a two-state solution. >> we will hear more from the former president, late they are

hour. also talk about that bandana that he's wearing as well. and why does secretary of state hillary clinton say that she, she can relate to the mighty morph power rangers, that's next, you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. if you are one of the millions of men

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the attorney general asking for help from the supporters in the party's annual meeting. running against the former head of the dnc, terry mcauliffe. his path to nomination was cleared after the lieutenant governor dropped out of the race, saying he's stepping aside to save the party from a potentially nasty tough primary battle. we'll have to wait until next july to find out what former presidential candidate and governor of texas, rick perry will be doing. those plans could well be running for his fourth term as texas governor. but perry told nbc back in august that he would quote absolutely consider running for the white house again. secretary of state hillary clinton likens herself to the power rangers after watching a video tribute to herself at a middle east forum hosted by the show's maker. take a listen. >> i prepared some remarks for tonight, but then i thought maybe we could just watch that

video a few more times. and then the next time i could county the hairstyles, which you know, is one of my favorite pasttimes. i think i know what it feels like to be one of the mighty morphing power rangers. clinton honored at the dinner following her diplomatic mission to the region following the recent conflict. and defeatsed one-term republican congressman allen west from florida channeling abraham lincoln in an interview signaling it's not the end for him. west, telling npr quote abraham linked served one term in congress, too. we should note here, that the only difference was that lincoln pledged to serve only one term and that the 16th president of the united states also did not seek re-election. >> still to come on this fine sunday. we flash back to 1954.

>> have you no sense of decency, sir? at long last? have you left no sense of decency? >> that infamous line, said to one joe mccarthy and on this day, almost six decades ago, the senate took a stand against the senator from wisconsin. we'll flash back and take a look. first, the language of the day surrounding the fiscal cliff. when john boehner says -- we're nowhere, as he has today, does he mean it? you're watching msnbc. wasn't my daughter's black bean soup spectacular? [ man thinking ] oh, this gas. those antacids aren't working. oh no, not that, not here! [ male announcer ] antacids don't relieve gas. gas-x is designed to relieve gas. gas-x. the gas xperts.

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it's so great to see you. you, too! oh, cloudy glasses. you didn't have to come over! actually, honey, i think i did... oh? you did? whoa, ladies, easy. hi. cascade kitchen counselor. we can help avoid this with cascade complete pacs. see, over time, cascade complete pacs fight film buildup two times better than finish quantum. to help leave glasses sparkling shiny! too bad it doesn't work on windows. okay, i'm outta here. cascade. the clear choice. i'm craig melvin, here's a look at top stories making news. police say nine taliban suicide bombers were killed in a coordinated attack on a u.s. air base in eastern afghanistan.

the attack killed two afghan civilians and three afghan special forces. in japan, seven people are missing after a tunnel collapse. about 150 concrete panels fell from the roof of a major highway tunnel. rescue efforts have been hampered by heavy smoke after one vehicle caught fire inside the same tunnel. and the game between the kansas city chiefs and the carolina panthers is being played right now. all of this despite the tragedy at the chiefs arrowhead stadium when linebacker jovan belcher killed himself in the parking lot after killing his girlfriend. as the country edges closer to the fiscal cliff, both sides are digging in their heels on a major sticking point. tax rates for the wealthy. treasury secretary timothy geithner making the rounds on the sunday morning talk shows today, and once again, made it clear that white house will reject any deal that does not let the bush tax cuts expire for high earners.

>> if republicans are not willing to let rates go back up, and we think they should go back to the clinton levels, at a time when the american economy was to be exceptionally well, then there will not be an agreement. >> joining me, former pennsylvania governor and nbc news political analyst, ed rendell and the co-chair of the campaign to fix the debt here in new york, republican strategist, susan purcell. good afternoon to both of you. governor we'll start with you, both sides seem to be standing firm over what they want out of the fiscal cliff deal this morning. this is what house speaker john boehner said about the state of the negotiations. take a listen. >> i think they're -- they won the election, they must have forgotten the republicans continue to hold the majority in the house. but you know, the president's idea of a negotiation is -- roll over and do what i ask. we need to find common ground

and we need to find it quickly. >> governor, are they going to be able to find that common ground quickly? >> yeah, i think they are. you know i have to laugh. in the first term, the president was criticized by his base for giving in too quickly or too easily. this is a negotiation. and in the negotiation, you don't put on the table initially where you want to wind up. you put out what's your bargaining position and both sides have to understand that. but what i do think is important, is both sides, and not just the president, but our democrats in the congress as well. have to understand both sides have to understand what the other side needs to do. we're asking the republicans to raise rates. it's been something they've been dead set against. we're not going to budge on that. but to do that, to accomplish that, we've got to give them significant entitlement reform and not just entitlement reform that's all on the provider's side or all on the waste and abuse side. there has to be some real pain administered, because raising

rates is painful for their base. >> when you say real entitlement reform. are you talking about you know, mitch mcconnell yesterday telling "the wall street journal" that some of the things that they would like to see done increasing premiums for wealthy medicaid recipients, that being one of them. the other thing, raising the age of eligibility from 65 to 67. beyond those things? or just those things? >> some of those things. i mean we've been dead set against raising the age level. even though the life expectancy since medicare was passed into law, has increased by 15 years. it makes no sense. now for people who have had very difficult, hard labor jobs and low income, you can carve out an exception for them. we can could do this if the political will is there and the understanding is there, that both sides have to get something if they're going to achieve their goals. >> susan, apparently geithner gives the plan, there's laughter in the room. the president is asking for $1.6 trillion in new revenue, $400

billion in entitlement reforms. $50 billion for immediate infrastructure spending. do you think that that made it more difficult to reach a deal? or is it just as governor rendell suggested, you ask for the moon in the hopes that you land among the stars? >> i think it's exactly the way the governor described it. the president had to put out something that showed his base that he was serious, that he was going to on what he was elected on. but at the same time, and it's also something governor referred to, we have to give the path of yes to the republicans. they have to put them in a position where they're not the party of no. but where they can get to yes. so i think at this point, they're doing a lot of brafed ao on the sunday shows and that's very nice and good. -- bravado. and we probably won't see that happen played out. we'll have boehner and the president doing all of their shows and such. but at the end of the day,

hopefully their staffs are busy coming together and getting closer and closer. >> governor, connecticut senator joe lieberman says that president obama needs to get more involved in these talks. needs to get down in the trench, gets his hands a little dirty. is that the right strategy for the president? >> well i agree with senator lieberman. i've said that from the beginning. any time i was involved in a negotiation with the legislature over a bill, i got involved. that doesn't necessarily mean that i met with them personally. although often i would but it also meant that i was directing the flow and that my position was out there clearly. >> so why do you think for example that president obama hasn't done that yet? >> well because it worked for them in the first term. it was a key part of getting them re-elected. they never had to stake out difficult positions. but now it's the second term. he doesn't have to get re-elected. he's got to worry about what's good for the country. so i think he should lead, he should get out there and say look, guys, here's what i've seen what senator mcconnell wanted. here's what i'm willing to accept.

let's get going. >> and i agree, he has to show that he's going to lead. but at the same time, while he was just re-elected, he is looking towards legacy and he does not want to start his second term off with a recession. which is exactly what will happen if we go off the fiscal cliff. >> and he wants to solve this problem. i really believe if we solve this problem, the economy is going to take off. >> but solve it in a big way. don't you agree, governor? >> absolutely. >> we have to go big on this. >> we can't kick the can down the road. sorry we're taking the show over from you. >> i needed a breather, anyway, you're chairman of the fix the debt group. democrats at this point, do you think they are -- dealing seriously enough with entitlement reforms? >> i think some of them like senator durbin are, but there are a lot of people on left of our party, the progressive wing of the party, very progressive wing that haven't come to grips with what i said at the beginning and what susan echoed. that if we're going to ask the republicans to raise rates and raise, i think somewhere around

$1.3 trillion in revenue, then we've got to give them something that their base cares about so they can do it. so they can actually make the deal and close the deal. i don't think we're aware of that yet. before all of us. >> i want to talk about susan rice, the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. possible nominee for secretary of state. this was what senator claire mccaskill said this morning about how she's being treated. i want to play the sound and talk to you guys about it on the other side. take a listen. >> what has happened to susan rice is terribly unfair. if you really understand what went on. it is terribly unfair that she should be the scapegoat for this. when really the failures, ought to be at the lap of the head of the intelligence community that produced those talking points. that none of these guys will say a word about david petraeus. >> susan, do you agree? do you think she's a scapegoat? >> no, i don't. i think she did her job, i don't think her actions are reasons for her not to get the secretary of state job. but at the same time, she's been

so politicized and guess what, things in politics aren't fair. politics is not a sport that is played fairly. she's gotten caught up in this. and let's face it after all the talk that we heard this week, john kerry can sail into that and it's not a political fight that the president has to have. >> how does it play out, really quickly? do you think the president ends up nominating her? >> i i'm not sure, i think kerry is an easier track for the president, i think he likes susan rice, she has done a good job and she has been treated unfairly. >> appreciate you both coming on. coming up, msnbc's richard lui travelled to haiti, sat down with former president jimmy carter and about middle east peace. first we flash back to a time that communism was everywhere, or so some thought. you're watching msnbc. i'm only in my 60's...

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last night, the committee voted to advise me to give the defense department information about the communist and defense plants, communists were there as of this moment. >> our flashback today takes you into the archives and back to 1954. when the name joseph mccarthy was on everyone's mind. the red scare was something that gripped the nation, but after a time, mccarthy's crusade against communism started to wear thin and people got sick of it. eventually they would stand in line waiting to sign petitions against senator joe mccarpety, the man who led the fight against those suspected communists. then 58 years ago today, the senate took the unprecedented step of censuring one of their own, they said mccarthy had behaved contrary to senatorial

traditions and the only senator not on the record that day? that would have been one john f. kennedy of massachusetts. it turns out he was in the hospital for back surgery on this day in 1954. now to another former president, we're talking about jimmy carter now. in our own richard lui got a chance to sit down with the former president recently during a trip to haiti. both he and richard were there volunteering with habitat for humanity. richard talked to mr. carter about service after the white house. the carter family's role in the recent election. and the rocky road to middle east peace. which he helped pave. 100 new hurricane-resistant homes. and 600 volunteer construction workers in the middle of it, an 88-year-old statesman. former president jimmy carter working in heat nearing 100 degrees, with wife roselynn in

haiti. during a break, the carters describe one of the people they helped. >> she cried a couple of times when she saw the walls going up in the mid many. she had tears going down her cheeks. >> maria lived in a tent for two years after the 2010 quake. >> it was a big honor for the president to build my house. i was really happy about this. >> a year after marie received her house, carter remains moved. a reminder of his decades-long focus on international human rights. his crowning international achievement, middle east peace. the 1978 camp david peace accord. many years later, carter remain as tough critic of the current players, including benjamin netanyahu. >> the netanyahu policy needs to change. because he's the first prime minister in the history of the israel that has shifted to a one-state, instead of a two-state solution. he's determined, think to have israel control all the way from the jordan river to the

caribbean. >> and some criticism of president obama as well. >> he made a speech in cairo said no more settlements and a few months later he made a speech saying the 1967 borders will prevail with some modifications based on negotiations. and i hope he'll go back to that formula. which is a formula for the whole world, except for israel. i think then we go forward. i would like to see his top priority be for middle east peace. >> however, carter was not surprised by obama's win. he krid the his grandson, james carter, for discovering and exposing hidden camera video of mitt romney saying 47% of voters see themselves as victims. >> the turning point was when our grandson revealed that the governor had talked about 47%, i think that was a real turning point. and james has made us all very proud. he's the most famous carter now. and he was born in the white house. when we had only been there for a month. he lived four years in the white house. so he's, was very eager to help.

probably was the single-most important factor in the whole election. was what james did reveal. >> the 39th president also has predictions for washington. >> both republicans and democrats learned a lot from this election. and i think one of the things they learned is that the people want them to cooperate whenever possible. they, republicans will come around on the deficit, because of the economic you know, cliff that we're hanging over. i think they'll do that. i don't think there's any doubt that the republicans will cooperate on immigration reform. they've learned how important the hispanic vote is and african-american vote. >> having gotten politics out of the way, the carters promptly returned to building, a work ethic that created marie's 175-square-foot home and something jimmy and roselynn carter say they'll forever do and like most things, do together. richard lui, msnbc, haiti. grover norquist, the man in

the middle, may be hit be the sidelines. but what about grover norquist has made hundreds march in lockstep behind him all these years? we'll talk about it. ♪ i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios tend to weigh less than those who don't. is bigger than we think ... sometimelike the flu.fer from with aches, fever and chills- the flu's a really big deal. so why treat it like it's a little cold? there's something that works differently than over-the-counter remedies. prescription tamiflu attacks the flu virus at its source. so don't wait. call your doctor right away. tamiflu is prescription medicine for treating the flu

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96 a number of places.

he has a big network of fellow activists, he has access to a lot of money that he can inject into congressional races around the country, but ironically enough, it's the democrats that sort of elevated the mystique of grover. it was the last session of congress when harry reid was talking about grover as though he was the 101st senator. that pledge, by the way, has some loopholes in it, too. for instance, if we did go over the fiscal cliff and all of those bush tax cuts expired, then they could go and pass something that would actually be higher taxes than we have today, but lower than the, you know, where we would be then. i mean, this pledge has definitely got some holes in it, and grover himself will concede that. >> you mention that it was passed in the '80s, and for folks who aren't familiar with

it, let's put it up here. one, according to the pledge, oppose any and all efforts to impose the marginal income tax rates for individuals or business and impose deductions and credits unless matched dollar for dollar by further tax rates. ana marie met congressman tom cole of oklahoma, saying republicans should support president obama's plan to raise taxes on folks who earn more than $250,000. he repeated that sentiment today. several other republicans said they'll violate his pledge. is there a full fledged revolt now against norquist? >> i think he is losing his influence. i have to add to karen's insight, democrats have elevated him, so has the media. the fact we are talking about him now adds to his mystique and power. i think grover used to be one of the only games in town when it came to spokesmen for this kind

of movement and someone able to imply this pressure, there are other people on the right who can do this, other people just as good as he is. i have to say, this pledge has made the most sense to voters because it seems very simple. the fact it has loopholes and what not, i don't see people, oh, they violated the pledge, but there is that loophole. people now are looking for congress to make some common sense decisions and tom cole sounds like he's making common sense. his argument is as simple as no new taxes. >> thank you so much, once again, do appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> thank you. 29 days left to avoid falling off the cliff. the house speaker says the negotiations are going nowhere. we'll talk to a top financial services committee member and democrat maxine waters straight ahead. plus, many saw last month's election as a mandate for the immigration system. we'll ask kay bailey hutchison

what the republican party needs to do. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. with a low $18.50 monthly plan premium, select generic hypertension drugs for only a penny and in-store copays as low as one dollar on other generic drugs after deductible, saving on your medicare prescriptions is easy. so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details.